God desires that we be like His Son (Rom. 8:29). In the end, this is what salvation looks like, that we live the way He does because we have the relationship with God that He has. Jesus gave us a forceful command that helps us evaluate how we are living our lives and get back on track where we’ve gone off.
He said to His disciples, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).
His intention is not what I thought it was when I first studied it. I used to think His kingdom was to be first in the sense of kingdom first, family second, work third, etc. But that’s not His point. His use of “first” is not in order of priority. The problem I found is that when I think like that, His kingdom diminishes the more my priorities increased in number for the day. How much of a priority do I place on the kingdom when I’m juggling 20 things to do?
There’s a better way to think of the verse. We are to put the kingdom of God first in whatever we’re involved with. (If the kingdom of God seems unclear to you, re-read Matthew 5-7. It is letting God rule over everything in your life). When you are making plans for your family, or simply participating as a member of the family, the kingdom principles of Matthew 5-7 should guide us. It rules our thinking toward other members of the family and our behavior in the family dynamics.
This “Seek first” is not to be taken lightly. When I looked up “seek” in the BLB app, the Greek version of the word was an “imperative.” It is a direct order from our commanding superior. Jesus orders us to practice the principles in our daily living. Because it’s a command, we don’t have an alternate course to take.
It’s like the teacher giving us homework that we’re required to do to make sure we practice what was taught to thoroughly learn the lessons. A sample of our homework is Matt. 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” If we seek the kingdom first in the home responsibility we are to do, would we do it honestly with a good attitude before God, or not? Would we desire to be like Christ while we work?
More homework is found in Matt. 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful.” When others in the home hurt or bother us, how should this kingdom principle guide our response? If we put it first, what should we do to contrary ideas and emotions, like a desire to hurt them?
You’ve probably read about ransomware attacks on businesses and individuals where a malicious computer virus takes control of the system and demands a payment before it would release its hold. One moment you’re working, and the next moment a message pops up demanding money.
In the same way, we have ransomware in us that was planted since we were born and was programmed to pop up and change the way we operate. That ransomware is called “sin.” When we seek first to apply the principles of the kingdom of God, often ransomware messages will pop up, and our efforts would be derailed.
Messages like: “I don’t feel like it.” “But he hit me first.” “I don’t want to think about all that stuff.” “That’s old-fashioned.” “I want to do it my way.” “That looks like a lot of work.”
There are many sinful (read, disobedient) responses we may make to the commands of Jesus. They all show the pervasiveness of this sin attack against the will of God. It’s in our minds, wills, desires, intentions, wishes, and more. Sin saturates every part. Our responses also reveal where we stand with God. If we don’t want the kingdom of God day by day, we won’t get it in the future. He won’t force it on us.
We can’t possibly keep all of Matt. 5-7 in mind at once. But we can keep the summary in mind: to love the Lord with all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor the way we want them to love us (Matt. 7:12, 22:36-40). Then we familiarize ourselves with the details of Matthew 5-7 to more clearly see God’s intentions for our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin. Have we learned of His methods of deliverance and taken them up? Just like the homework helps us see where we don’t understand and need further help, so seeking the kingdom first in our endeavors help us see where we are weak and need the Wise Counselor’s help. We are to ask for forgiveness (an important step is acknowledging our fault), but also to seek the Lord about overcoming the sin.
By seeking first the kingdom in whatever we do so it rules our choices, we are asserting one master over us. We can’t serve two masters, Jesus told us (Matt. 6:24). When we choose to follow the will of God and resist contrary values, we are asserting Christ’s rule over us instead of letting sin dominate.
Christ paid the ransom for our sins. The ransomware no longer has a hold on us (Rom. 6:14). Whenever we surrender to Christ to do His will, our operating system is released and operates better than before. As we intentionally “seek” to put God’s will first, we’ll find Christ’s life operating in us. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). That’s interesting: the Father worked His will through Jesus and wants to do the same through us. That’s what salvation looks like.
As we noted at the beginning of the article, our salvation looks like following in the footsteps of Jesus. His mind was set on obedience at all times. “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42) was His constant approach to life, no matter what He was doing. He was therefore a shining light to show us what God was like when He lived in a human body. When we seek to let the principles of the kingdom govern our lives, then we act as the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). We show people what God is like, living out His life as we are yielded to Him.
